One Night On A Mountain

Chapter One

The howling wind rattled the door; the dog barked, outside it was freezing. Jesse poked the fire and turned up the volume on the television. The snow had been falling for two days. There was a muffled sort of normality everywhere. Pete would be home soon, probably this evening. Jesse sniffed her top lip and sniffed the scent of Pete’s hair and skin, he was an earthy man, he loved the woods, the sky and high places.

The cottage was isolated. The nearest neighbour was three miles away, the road down wound in a series of hairpin bends. It was ten minutes’ drive on a clear day, but in the roaring white blizzard of this day, distance was sucked into a swirling whirlpool of space and time.

Pete squinted stubbornly through the windscreen, the steady thrum of the big diesel made an audible compost where his thoughts grew. He anticipated seeing Jesse; his mind’s eye painted her portrait, long blonde hair framing ice blue eyes and high cheekbones. Pete could almost taste those soft lips. He dropped down a gear and squeezed the accelerator. The road ahead rose noticeably in the headlights, the snow fell thick and fast. He was a hundred miles from home.

Jesse went to the kitchen and filled the kettle. She placed it on the big wood burning stove. Zak raised his handsome head and swished his tail. His presence was a comfort to Jesse, he was brave and loyal. She went to the window and looked out. The dusk was turning quickly to dark. The first snow of winter had transformed the terrain as if by the wave of an omnipotent hand. The pale moon cast an eerie glow, bluish over the white landscape. Jesse loved the place as much as Pete did. The hewn stone cottage nestled in a copse of conifers half way up the mountain. Smiling at her life, she filled the coffee pot and poured herself some. Zak whined suddenly, he paced back and forth restlessly. Jesse took a long draught of coffee and patted the fretting dog. It’s just the wind, boy, she cooed, You settle now, I’m going upstairs with my book for a while.

The sudden noise rent the calm just like a knife ripping through stretched tarpaulin. Jesse jerked upright on the big bed. The noise sounded full of rage, it terrified her and assailed her senses. It was unearthly. The tortured wail was unlike anything she had ever heard. The dog barked frantically, the hair on his back stood on end. Jesse shivered and tried to rationalise her thoughts. Some poor animal hurt in a fall or a fight, she thought. Jesse crossed the room, turned on the light and opened the door; Zak almost knocked her over at the top of the stone staircase. He was in a frenzy. It’s okay – it’s okay, she unconvincingly crooned to the frantic dog.

The wail came again; the woman and the dog both realised that the spine-chilling cry was closer. Jesse forced herself to creep down the stairs to the heavy oak front door. She checked that the key was turned in the lock and that the bolts were thrown. She had to steel herself to approach the small windows, curtains were only a symbolic barrier but Jesse felt more secure with them drawn. With the dark wilderness blanked from the room she sat on the bottom step of the staircase and clutched the wild eyed dog to her knees. It’s okay Zak, Pete will be home soon, he’ll look after us, she whispered. Once more the nerve rending scream came; her body went into spasm. The sound was primeval, it touched her soul.

The source of the noise sniffed the air and scanned. It was a long way from home, but the scent was unmistakable. It took a deep breath and remembered the pungent smell of animal fear.

Pete nursed the 1975 Dodge pickup along. She was ten years old now, still hard working and reliable. Pete gave the dashboard a pat. The driving snow was becoming packed upon the road surface. The concentration needed to maintain a respectable speed began to take its toll. The slight headache had developed into a gnawing pain across his eyebrows. The lights of Jordan’s Cafe were a welcome sight. Pete dropped down a gear and swung off the highway.

Aamtuc found the white fluffy stuff intriguing; the cold was a stranger to him. The soft wet texture was a new experience. He thought about his life before the ‘misunderstanding’. Roosa, his partner, and his young ones, Dak and Leno, had been his world. Aamtuc had been content, and he thought, well adjusted. They said that he had overreacted, that he’d displayed traits that were too primitive. True, he had found it difficult to control his actions on the day he’d walked in on the scene. The government official was obviously abusing his rank. Collecting tribute could not possibly encompass this type of behaviour. The young ones were cowering in a corner as the official ripped at Roosa’s garments.

Aamtuc had gripped the tax collector and thrust him half way through the apartment window, then, as if they were sticks, snapped both the attacker’s legs.

Amazingly the would-be rapist survived. There were many operations upon his legs and the lacerations to his face and neck. In spite of mitigating circumstances, Aamtuc was charged and convicted. His punishment was ejection into space with limited rations. Aamtuc’s fate would depend upon his own resource and the gods. The prison pod randomly entered Earth’s atmosphere. He managed to slow its descent though it sustained damage from heat and impact. Miraculously, he survived.

Rawlings pressed himself against a tree; his numb fingers clawed at the gnarled bark. The wailing had completely jangled him. Hell; he’d grown up near the woods, nature had never scared him. That noise, though was ‘something else’, he thought. The prison clothes were thin. Rawlings sensed his circulation slowing in the bitter wind, he needed warmth and food, two days on the run had sapped his muscular body.

Jesse wasn’t surprised when she tried the phone to ring Jordan’s Cafe, she knew that Pete would normally make a stop there. She clicked the button routinely, the deafening sound of silence was all she got. Falling trees and landslips often disconnected the line. She turned off the downstairs light and climbed the steep staircase hoping the house hadn’t stood out like a beacon in the sea of darkness. Jessica had a bad feeling about this evening. Zak followed her closely.

Rawlings saw the light go out. The inconsolable cry came again, he was galvanised into action. He ran headlong to where the light had been.

Jessica shuddered at the noise. She groped for the pistol on top of the wardrobe, crawled into the big bed and pulled the top cover up under her armpits. The dog was frightened; he tried to make himself invisible beneath the bed frame. Now, with all the curtains drawn, she switched on the bedside lamp and examined the gun. In the dim light, she opened the chamber; it was empty.

Aamtuc tried some of the easy fodder; it was bitter and coarse. His body still ached from the impact. He was bruised and sore, yet marvelled that he had survived. His now disabled craft had scorched through Earth’s atmosphere; it was pure chance that it had collided with this part of the spinning planet. The tall dense conifers had arrested its fall like a mother cradling her baby. Aamtuc had lurched from the stricken pod, taken an aimless few steps then wailed in distress and frustration. Suddenly his attention was grabbed, he scanned. The animal fear scent was strong; he followed.

Rawlings pressed himself against the wet stone. His lungs felt as if they would explode in his chest. The hard man had always taken just what he had wanted. He’d never been big on compassion, he saw most people as fools, there to be taken advantage of. This outlook had earned him five years in the State Penitentiary. Armed robbery, malicious wounding, on top of a string of other felonies was the path he’d walked.

Pete left the cafe revived. The bacon sandwich and the hot coffee had released new energy into him. He scraped the windscreen and climbed into the cab, soon he was doing fifty. In an hour he would be home.

Aamtuc found the white stuff mildly interesting. Hunger though was now in the driving seat, it was a need that had to be satisfied. Even though this strange environment distracted him, his intelligence patterns persisted in conjuring up images of Roosa and his youngsters. When this happened, Aamtuc wailed at three hundred decibels. His neurone feedback system told him that he would never see his loved ones again, he felt totally alone.

Rawlings tried the front door, it was solid. With hands that were turning blue, he felt his way along the front of the house. Stumbling around the corner, he slowly made his way towards the blackness at the back of the house. Chickens squawked, a dog barked half-heartedly, he cursed under his breath, shivering as he waited. Silence returned, no one came, the dog sounded as if it was in the woodshed at the other end of the building. Rawlings could no longer feel his feet, he knew things were getting serious, he realised that his only hope was warmth, and soon. The small back window creaked and moved at his third attempt with the shovel that he’d tripped over in the darkness. Practised in stealth Rawlings slipped into the kitchen, gently closing the window after him. Somewhere the dog barked and whined again; he was past caring. Lying next to the life-giving stove he gradually started to regain feeling in his half frozen body. Fifteen minutes passed. Still, nobody came.

Jessica remembered that the bullets for the pistol were downstairs in the cabinet. She hadn’t bothered to reload it after firing into the air to chase off a nosy bear months ago. Jesse cursed silently for being so remiss. Zak was whining and growling alternately, the wailing seemed to have blown his courage.

Aamtuc felt confused and full of righteous anger when he thought about the Elders. In his deep frustration, a strange hot liquid ran down his cheeks. He did not know what this place was called, but it bore certain similarities to his own planet. Craving comfort, he wondered what Roosa was doing, was she thinking of him? Aamtuc believed that the technology that had brought him to this place was damaged beyond redemption; that there was no way back.

When Jesse heard the chickens squawking she did the only thing she could think of, she jumped from the bed and jammed a chair underneath the door handle. She’d never seen the dog afraid of anything before. She realised that the screaming had made him as fearful as she was. Jessica wasn’t a particularly religious person, but as she crossed the room and stroked the dog’s head, she prayed that Pete would walk in and make everything all right.

As Pete reached the edge of town the snow was deep and drifting, it blanked definition. He found it difficult to determine the edges of the well-known road. The pickup spun its wheels too easily as the mountain gradient started.

It had been quiet for five minutes, even the dog was silent. Rawlings began to feel confident again. Careful not to make a sound, he took a mug from the sink top. The coffee was like nectar, strong and sweet. He found bread and cheese on the work top, he gorged himself. Feeling strong again, he moved to the window and looked out at the night. The driving snow had cloaked everything. The landscape was nondescript shapes, only the silhouettes of trees stood out in the moon glow. Rawlings felt loathe to return to the bleakness. A little longer wouldn’t hurt, he thought; maybe the place was empty apart from that dog tied up in the shed. Dogs don’t turn off electric lights though, he reasoned. Rawlings breathed in deeply through his nostrils, he smiled to himself. A woman, a soft, warm woman was somewhere near.

Aamtuc did not understand, maybe it was something to do with the atmospheric pressure. Three times it had happened. He leaned his angular frame against a tree. The hot, salty fluid coursed down his face as he thought once more of Roosa and his young offspring. The fluid seemed to emanate from his optic organs. Suddenly, like the remnant of a long-forgotten dream, something flashed through Aamtuc’s consciousness, it seemed familiar but buried deep in an ancient past.

Jessica felt her blood pounding in her veins. She was sure that she could sense evil in the house. The terrible wailing had not come for a while, the air though felt full of foreboding. Zak emerged from beneath the bed, he seemed to have regained some of his old courage. Jesse knew that something bad was close to them, though she had no idea what could scream like that.

Aamtuc wiped his eyes and set off in the direction of the scent of fear, which was also where the light had been.

Rawlings knew that he should leave immediately, the tracks to the house would be easy to follow in the virgin snow, but he had done three-and-a-half years in that hellhole before the escape, and now he had other things on his mind. He silently began exploring his surroundings.

Pete rounded the bend in third on opposite lock. He really didn’t need the fallen tree across his path, it wasn’t a big tree, but it spoilt his momentum. The pickup slid to a halt, and he climbed down. He grabbed the pine bole and heaved. Suddenly Pete dropped the trunk in alarm; the anguished cry was heart stopping. He had been around animals long enough to know that its pain was inconsolable, whatever it was. He picked up the fallen tree and almost ran with it. He leapt back into the cab, revved the engine and fishtailed up the steep road.

Rawlings flattened himself against the side of the staircase, his hair stood on end. It had been quiet for a short while. He’d hoped that whatever it was had moved on. The latest cry reinforced his decision to stay put. He had no desire to meet whatever was responsible.

The scream had completely spooked Zak, he began to howl and whine in fear. It had the opposite effect on Jessica. She became possessed by a hysterical type of calm; if it was an animal wanting to eat her, she would fight to the death. She tossed the empty gun into a corner, stood on the bed and pulled down the curtain rod. She let the drapes slide to the floor. The four feet long piece of heavy wood felt good in her hands.

Rawlings burst into the room. The chair had splintered under his charge. He stared up at the beautiful young woman who glared defiantly at him; he laughed, took a step forward and reached for the pole. Zak hit him like a powerful uncoiling spring, full in the chest. Rawlings went down with his arms over his face. Zak ripped and tore at him, his eyes glazed with fury. Jesse watched unable to move. The terrible cry filled the room once more. Zak jerked upright and howled a frantic blood-curdling howl, leapt from the struggling man and cannoned through the open door. Rawlings heaved himself to his feet. One of his ears was all but ripped off, blood pumped from the wound in his shoulder. Running on pure adrenaline, he staggered forward and screamed at Jessica, his eyes bulging, You’ll pay for this, you bitch! Jesse swung the pole as the wild man tried to grab her leg, the blow knocked him down, but he got up.

Aamtuc reached the door of the cottage, he heard the screaming from inside. He tried the handle, the door was locked. He took two steps backwards then threw his huge body at it; with a crash, it swung inwards. Before he could step inside a crazed dog hurtled past him. The shouting and screaming were coming from the upper region of the building. As he strode toward the stairway, Aamtuc scanned and tried to decipher the conflict of emotions he was reading. Aggression and lust were prominent, desperate anger mixed with pride and fear were trying to hold them in abeyance. He entered the bedroom, the body forms were smaller, but the scenario was familiar; brutality was the same on any planet.

Aamtuc’s wail shattered all of the glass in the cottage. Before he knew what was happening, Rawlings was gripped and wrenched into the air, he was shaken like a rat caught by a terrier; he kicked at space. Just before he was dashed against the wall, Rawlings stared into a pair of piercing gunmetal grey eyes; in that moment he realised he was scum.

Jesse was cowed; she was awed by Aamtuc’s power. Compassion though shone in the sad grey eyes. Jessica’s fear ebbed as he gazed at her. She didn’t flinch as he leaned over and gently touched her cheek. She noticed tears starting to roll down his face. Who are you? she managed in a small voice.

He said, My name is Aamtuc, the voice was machine-like, as though the words were being translated before being spoken. Jesse watched as if in a trance as the giant took hold of Rawlings by his shirt collar and dragged him from the room. She heard the body thumping down the stairs behind him. Aamtuc stepped out into the blizzard and hurled the limp torso at the alien moon.

Bewildered, but so grateful to the fantastic stranger, Jesse staggered down the stairs. She stopped in the open doorway and looked out. The bright moon between clouds cast huge shadows. In a wave of relief, Jesse saw the pickup. Then she recognised the figure of her husband. Pete, stood steady as a rock twenty yards away. The right side of Pete’s body was obscured by the bulk of the huge stranger’s back as he walked away from the house.

Jessica stepped to one side, she saw the gun and started to shout, NO PETE – NO! Pete’s finger was already squeezing the trigger. The shotgun cartridge hit Aamtuc square in the chest. Purple fluid oozed on to the deep swirling snow.

Pete leaned over the huge body; Aamtuc’s eyelids fluttered as he scanned Pete’s brain patterns. Pete felt weird, it was almost as if his thoughts were being stolen. He looked at the angular face; the lips were trying to move, Pete crouched closer and put his ear to them. The gasping suddenly stabilised, a faint smile briefly flickered over Aamtuc’s features. Suddenly his eyelids blinked open. Large grey eyes studied Pete’s face for a long moment then in a sad, gentle whisper, he said: THANK YOU!

Chapter Two

It wasn’t often that the Elders came to a wrong decision. However, with the discovery of new information relating to the case of Aamtuc and the tax collector, they had to conclude that they had. A being, who knew the tax collector privately and had his own reasons for disliking him, came forward and made known the official’s violent and perverted past. The leaders met and re-judged the case. Aamtuc in his absence was exonerated on the grounds of justifiable retaliation.

Little time had elapsed since Aamtuc’s departure. The deep space probe easily located his craft’s position. As the Elders’ ship neared Earth’s atmosphere, they realised that Aamtuc’s ship was not in orbit, but was actually on the planet’s surface. The transmitter from the stricken pod still pulsed out its woeful tale. Commander Salik gave the cloaking order, and the ship hung in the Earth sky; invisible.

Pete crushed Jessica close to him. He tried to make sense of what she was trying to tell him between her sobs. Gently he led her back through the open door of the cottage. He carried her up the staircase and tucked her into the big bed. Pete went downstairs and poured himself a large brandy which he downed in one. He poured another and took it up to Jesse. Drink this, love, and try to settle down while I go and fix things outside, he said.

The operator of the ship’s life form scanner quickly ruled out the soup of lower caste intelligence patterns he was receiving as animals living in the wild. The scanner also reported four other life signals in close proximity. The metabolism readings of three of them were all within the same range, as were their intellect levels. The fourth one showed a higher intellect and almost twice the body mass of any of the others. This last one’s vital signs though were the weakest of all the signals. The operator turned in his swivel seat and sought the commander’s face among the other officers.

Rawlings rolled onto his back, the pain in his ribs and the other wounds he had suffered made it almost unbearable. He drew on every particle of his stamina which was, everything considered, remarkable. The punishing daily exercise regime he had followed in prison was now his saviour. He lifted himself onto one elbow and looked across at the fallen giant twenty yards away. The shotgun report had jarred Rawlings back into consciousness, he could see no sign of anyone else and the door of the house was closed.

Uncontrollable rage welled up in him. He forced himself onto his knees, then with the help of a snow covered bush hauled himself to his feet. Rawlings would make his escape, but first, he wanted to know that that big bastard who had hurt him and robbed him of his pleasure with the woman was finished. He dug a jagged rock from the snow and staggered toward the still body.

The rage he felt seemed to feed new energy back into him. He saw the spreading purple stain on the giant’s chest and smiled to himself. Leaning into Aamtuc’s face until their noses were touching, he snarled, I’m gonna smash your ugly skull now, big man.

The hovering ship’s cloaking device devoured power at an immense rate. The recharge warning light flashed urgently; Salik had to make a decision. The molecule scrambler and transporter beam were activated, the ship’s receiving room light flashed ‘On Board’, main thrusters were engaged, and the ship surged homeward.

Rawlings blinked; he was lying on his back. The bed had cot sides on it. He found that he was able to move his head side to side. Apart from some cabinets, numerous overhead lights and what looked like a large camera, the room was featureless shining metal. Though his body ached, he sensed an inner strength he’d never experienced before. His muscles felt expanded to the point of almost pushing through his skin. He lifted his head and looked down the length of his body. White bandages swathed his hugely wide chest, his feet looked twice as large as they had been, and a lot further from his head. Rawlings felt his mind start to overload, strange things were happening in there. Suddenly he felt calmer as though some other’s mind was taking charge of his own. This was all too weird; he turned his face to the polished, closest wall and nearly passed out. The face that stared back at him wasn’t his. It belonged to that huge guy that fate had tangled him with. Rawlings concentrated hard, he thought about his past and who he was. He couldn’t believe it, but it seemed as if he was getting memory flashes that weren’t his. Forcing himself, he found that the larger part of his conscious mind was still his own and the intruder’s could be dominated, called into service at will or pushed into a corner and blanked from existence. It took great effort, but as long as he concentrated hard, it could be accomplished in a few seconds.

Pete had seen the giant hurl the lifeless looking body towards the trees. Now that Jesse was safe he left the house and walked toward the spot where he’d seen it fall. Half way across, Pete heard the familiar excited barking. Zak’s furry damp bulk crashed against him, tail wagging furiously. Pete hugged the black and tan shepherd and cradled his lolling head. Good boy – good boy; I hear you did your bit before you got spooked. Okay, quiet now. They reached the spot, Hell Zak! That guy looked like a rag doll when the big one threw him; dead meat for sure I thought, where’s he gone? The dog circled the patch and started off to where Aamtuc had been laying. When Pete caught up, he had an even greater shock.

Aamtuc had smelled the hot laboured breath as Rawlings leaned above him; he’d heard the description of his own death as the man moved to smash his head with the rock. As his life fluid ebbed away, he had been powerless to move. Then, there had been a heavy droning noise and a purple beam of sucking light. He had experienced a sensation of complete weightlessness. Now his head raged with burning pain. He crawled out of the melt pool, got to his feet and made for the trees.

For god’s sake Johnson, Pete said out loud to himself and the dog, are you losing your damn mind? Where the giant had lain there was just a lukewarm pool of melt. Then he saw the normal man sized boot prints leading off toward the now pitch black woods. Pete felt disinclined to follow. He wondered if he was dreaming. Suddenly he felt vulnerable. He couldn’t figure all the weird stuff out. He remembered that Jesse was back in the house, alone. Come on Zak he wheezed, let’s get inside and make things secure; in the morning we’ll drive down and report the whole damn mess to Sheriff Bailey, no way am I leaving the place tonight boy, oh yeah and the phone company." Pete spent the next hour boarding up the blown out windows and fixing the broken door locks. As he worked, he thought over and over what Jesse had told him and what he had witnessed? The Sheriff is never gonna believe me, he mused. That big guy had a hole in his chest you could put a fist in!

Chapter Three

A peculiar gurgling noise filled his head. For the first ten seconds it reminded Rawlings of water running down a drain, he relaxed and let the sound expand. To his amazement, the noise started to separate into words that he understood. It wasn’t his own language, but it seemed to translate automatically in his brain. He realised that something or someone was trying to communicate with him via an intercom loudspeaker.

Salik asked the question once again. Are all of your thinking patterns stable, Aamtuc?

Rawlings instinctively sensed danger in the probing. He called on the captive alien voice inside him to answer, under his direction he heard the voice say, My telepathic output and reception is confused, Commander. Otherwise, I can sense things returning to normal.

This is good, Aamtuc, replied Salik. The Council of Elders owes you an apology. You were done a great injustice, relax and rest now. Graggonspur hurtled on through the great void; fifteen more Earth hours would bring it in sight of Sloid, the purple planet.

Rawlings was both frightened and excited by his new circumstances. He had always been quick-witted and cunning, his lack of respect and his impatience though, had sometimes been his downfall. He concentrated for all he was worth to reconstruct in his mind the events leading up to his present situation. Over and over the conclusion was the same. He had to be on some kind of spacecraft. Furthermore, he had assumed the appearance of the seven foot six strongman who had robbed him of his pleasure with the woman and smashed him unconscious. With a satisfied smile he also realised that somehow, he now had at his whim a part of the alien’s mind. The rest of the puzzle clicked into place. The commander and crew of this fantastic craft believed him to be the giant Aamtuc. Rawlings lay still and practised calming his thoughts. He heard a quiet noise behind him, the crewman stood at the side of his bed and gave him a perfectly symmetrical grin.

Welcome back, he said, pressing a button that lowered the cot sides. If you feel strong enough, Salik has instructed me to escort you to the bridge.

Rawlings savoured the tingle in his spleen, he was that type of animal. He eased himself off the bed and stood erect. He took a deep breath and said, Lead on. As he followed the crewman into the tube-like corridor, Rawlings concentrated his mind on the part that was Aamtuc. Hell, he had nothing to lose.

Commander Salik was big. Rawlings stood before him and waited for him to speak. Rawlings realised that he was eye to eye with him. The commander said, We are happy that you survived. The gurgling made perfect sense, Salik continued. The Council of Elders have decided that you will be compensated generously for the ordeal which you have wrongly suffered.

To resume my life with my family is my main priority at the moment, Rawlings answered, drawing upon the extra input in his head.

Of course, of course, said Salik. You have other aspirations too, no doubt?

Rawlings felt the buzz, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this high. He went for gold. Sir, he said, I feel that I deserve a grade ten dwelling for myself and my family.

That is in order, replied the commander without hesitation.

Also, I would like my career accelerated to a place on the lower committee, I have been in the training program for some time and now feel confident to contribute within the governing body.

There was a tense pause, Salik nodded once and said, I will see it is done, when we dock I expect that you will wish to make haste, home to your family. Now that we are sure that you are recovering well from your injury I will have your partner contacted and informed of your imminent return. Salik turned away, Rawlings realised that the interview was over.

Aamtuc stumbled out of the moonlit open ground into the welcoming darkness of the conifers. He leaned against a tree and gasped to recover his breath. He looked behind him, no one followed. He reasoned that his best chance of survival lay with the damaged craft he had arrived in. He also reasoned that if he was going to shut down forever, then he might as well do it in some comfort and warmth. With these thoughts foremost in his mind he looked at his freezing hands. The shock jarred his brain. They were smaller, so were his arms, legs and feet. He put his fingers to the wound in his chest it wasn’t there. Suddenly an enraged alien voice screamed in his head. Back to the house! Kill the bastards! Aamtuc lifted his hands to his ears to stay the voice; it didn’t work. His left shoulder hurt like hell and blood covered his hand from his torn ear, Aamtuc shook his head and forced it to clear. The voice interjected again, Go back and punish them, it said, quiet and menacing now. He concentrated with all of his consciousness. The voice ceased and ran off to a dark place. He trudged on through the snow in the direction of the damaged pod. The craft lay on a slope door side down, he clambered inside. He collapsed into the pilot’s seat and gazed around him gathering his thoughts. He punched in the request and studied the damage report, it could have been worse he thought.

The control system showed a fault to one engine. This made sense when he recalled the direction problems he had encountered. The outer skin was dented and holed in a few places, none of the holes too large though. There was some good news; the monitor screen said ‘main navigation system’ – repairable. Aamtuc felt dizzy and very weak, he turned his head and vomited onto the hard plastic inner wall of the pod then passed out.

When he came to he looked out at the landscape. The white fluffy stuff still fell silently. Aamtuc turned on the internal camera and looked up at the screen. His logical brain went into overload. Staring back at him was Rawlings. Aamtuc let out a wail that was a fraction of its normal volume. Suddenly he understood the strange thoughts, the uninvited voice in his head. The part of his mind that was occupied by Rawlings suddenly surfaced. Maniacal laughter filled his head, the voice screamed, OKAY, YOU BASTARDS. SOMEBODY HAS TO PAY.

Pete woke early, he hadn’t slept much. The events of the previous evening seemed like a nightmare. Jesse was sitting on the wicker chair staring out of the window. When she heard Pete stir she turned towards him. Pete saw the red-rimmed eyes and the sad smile; he remembered that the nightmare was real.

Are you all right, angel? Pete asked quietly.

I’ll get over it, love, Jesse murmured.

Pete dressed and went down stairs. He opened the front door. Zak bounded out into the deep snow. Pete rustled up breakfast. By the time he had finished cooking, Jesse appeared looking more composed.

Let’s go through this again before we make any rash decisions. She said. They ate quickly in silence. Jesse put the coffee pot on the table and said, Okay, my man, start talking. Pete reached across and squeezed her hand.

Right, he said. First of all Jesse, the huge guy had a hole in him big enough to stop a charging bear! After I tucked you up in bed, Zak and me went back to where they should have been. They have both disappeared, Jesse.

I don’t understand any of this, Pete, said Jesse looking confused. All I know is the big guy dragged the other one off me and smashed him against the wall! He stroked my face, Pete, then he went down the stairs dragging that other bastard behind him. Next thing was, you showed up and shot the good guy.

Jesse, said Pete quietly, I’m gonna regret that till the day I die. I had to make a snap decision, my love, as it turns out it was the wrong one. No point in going down for the Sheriff yet, babe, no dead bodies, he’ll think I’m nuts! There was one set of boot prints leading from where the bad man was to where the big guy fell, and this is the weird part Jesse, there was one set of prints from that spot off into the woods, and they were normal man size! Pete pushed back his chair and stood. He took his coat from the hook and picked up his shotgun. Listen, Jesse, he said, load the pistol now, when I go out lock the door behind me and don’t open it until you hear my voice, okay?

Where did the giant go Pete? asked Jesse. Why didn’t he leave footprints?

I don’t know, my love, Pete said. It’s not him I’m worried about, it’s the other mad bastard I want to find.

Please be careful, Pete, she said. Sometimes you are so single minded you don’t look around you properly.

I will, precious, he said. I can’t just leave him loose out there though, can I? Come on, Zak.

Chapter Four

Aamtuc was shivering; it felt strange. The temperature in the pod was low with all the systems shut down. He looked